HOJA Bubble Tea & Asian Street Food — Restaurant in Plano

(Cross posted on Yelp too)

SUMMARY: Real deal Taiwanese boba and Taiwanese style bento shop. Plano, you should be so lucky! The nicest bilingual staff and the coolest owners. During our 5 day trip to Collin County, we went there twice. Highly recommend!

BACKGROUND: My wife is a native of Taiwan and we were visiting friends in the Collin County area. We wanted to get some legit boba and this one was fairly close to us and had legit, honest reviews.

DRINKS (4.5) My wife got the Taro milk tea and we both liked it. Taste was very taro-ish (if that's a word) and the milk tasted great given that she requested light sweetness. I forgot what she got on the 2nd day, but on both days I ordered the mixed fruit tea drink. One day I ordered it with the black tea and on the other day I ordered it with the green tea. Both drinks has a nice assortment of mixed fruit and as I usually do, I ate them. Both days the fruit was fresh, so no complaints there. I do have a slight preference for green tea, so that would be the one I'd recommend. Speaking of ingredients like the tea, the key ingredients they use appear to be imported (wife saw the labeling on the boxes) from Taiwan or sourced locally like the fresh ingredients.

FOOD - 5/5 We ordered food on the second day and split the grilled pork chop w/ rice dish. She let us know that it's a lot of food and she wasn't kidding. That pork chop was bigger than what we've seen at the average shop in LA and definitely bigger than any shop in the Bay area. Pork has the right amount of the sweet marinade and the chop was cooked pink (my preference). The only wish I had was for more of that Taiwanese green pickle because I'm a total fiend for it!

SERVICE - 5/5 Given that we were from out of town, the male owner talked with my wife for a bit on our first visit. And on our second visit, the wife/owner came out and talked with us as we ate lunch. That was really nice of them to do that and to help us understand the various neighborhoods in the area.

We learned quite a bit about their story. They came to the Collin County area after doing quite a bit of research into the boba market in the southwestern US (including the SGV in LA) and realized that the market was too saturated there and that there was a void to be filled for authentic Taiwanese boba in this exploding area. To say the least, I'm impressed by the risk that they took to move all the way to the US from Taiwan to start this shop. Gutsy move!

ATMOSPHERE - 5/5 Extremely clean when we visited.

RETURN VISIT? Well, we'd have to take a long flight or permanently move into the area! But yes, if this was local to us, we'd probably visit more...

I ordered a matcha boba and the total was $5.75 something before taxes ($6.27 total) but as soon as I went to pay it the cashier without notice added an extra 50 cent charge raising my total to $6.77. I immediately was confused but against my better judgement proceeded with the transaction. Looking at the receipt I was up charged for oatmilk despite: Not asking for oatmilk. Being told Oatmilk was the only/recommended option for the tea. Not being told oatmilk was being used at all. & to add insult to injury: After tasting the drink there was no oatmilk used at all. If you’re going to force a small upcharge, at least add the ingredient. I think the worst part is the drink taste like black tea mixed with cheap matcha powder. 0/10 all around. I highly recommend staying away from this business. Much better competition in the area. Is 50 cent worth making a customer...

Yesterday (June 20, 2024), we purchased various flavors of bubble tea (5 drinks) for our kids. However, we were shocked when our 11-year-old daughter found a metal piece in her mouth. It also hurt her mouth. Thank God she didn’t swallow it. This incident was extremely alarming, especially considering our 4-year-old son had been drinking from the same cup before his sister. We are deeply concerned about the potential harm this sharp metal piece could have caused if ingested, including severe damage to the stomach and intestines.

This situation is completely unacceptable. Additionally, we noticed that the packaging was inadequate—the cups were placed upside down in the plastic bags without any holders, increasing the risk of spills.

This level of negligence is highly disappointing and poses a serious safety risk. Consequently, we strongly recommend not purchasing...